Pink Dogwood Tree Gift

My pink dogwood tree now in bloom, a gift from a dear friend. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Pink Dogwood Tree Gift

I like to give friends a tree in memory of a lost one. I have done so for decades, letting the recipient chose a tree that means something to them and the missing loved one and my making arrangements to either plant it for them, or finding someone to do so.

So it was with delight that a very dear friend surprised me with a pink dogwood tree many years ago. He knew I was systematically adding Missouri’s state tree, cornus florida, to my limestone hillside garden so he chose to give me “something extra special,” a pink dogwood tree.

I have to confess, at first I didn’t know if I would like the color. When I think of my garden colors pink doesn’t immediately come to mind but Sunbonnet Sues Handmade Quilt in pink does. One of my first ever handmade quilts was one my mother made out of Sunbonnet Sues in a variety of pink fabrics. But I digress.

About the same time that native dogwoods bloom, my garden is covered in a pink haze from another one of Missouri’s lovely spring-blooming trees, the Eastern Redbud.

Deciding I liked the sentiment expressed by the gift tree more than a matched garden, I planted the pink dogwood by the path leading to the front of my house so it could welcome me home as I pulled into my garage.

Similar to Missouri’s state tree, the pink dogwood has added color on petal edges. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

The pink dogwood tree pops out behind an evergreen hiding what is behind the pathway leading into my garden, a nice way to offer a little garden surprise.

The pink dogwoodf lower colors start out strong, then slowly fade to a lighter color before the blooms disappear.

Native white dogwoods are notoriously difficult to get established so I wasn’t sure how successfully the pink dogwood tree would settle in. We lived for several years with tree branches hitting me in the face as I walked by and a couple of branches reaching into an odd angle but that gave the tree character.

This year the pink dogwood tree branches are finally tall enough to reach over my head so I don’t have to duck every time I pass under it.

I planted the gift pink dogwood where it would welcome me home. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

From a personal perspective, this gift pink dogwood tree also reminds me of how much enjoyment a gift tree can give. I think of my friend every time I look at it, remembering the evenings of sharing hopes, dreams and wishes as well as a lot of gardening talk. Not only is a gift tree a lovely sentiment but I can attest the gift tree keeps on giving year after year.

Charlotte